Nahshon Dion Anderson
| Nahshon Dion Anderson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
April 1, 1978 Altadena, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Fuentes Ratcliff Scott |
| Education | California State University Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Actor, memoirist, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Notable work | Shooting Range |
| Awards | Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award |
| Website | www.Nahshondionanderson.com |
Nahshon Dion Anderson (Hebrew: נַחְשׁוֹן Naḥšōn; born 1978) is an Afro-Mexican[1][2] and Atakapa, Choctaw, and Black Foot Native American, French Creole writer,[1] producer, filmmaker and 2014 recipient of the Bronx Recognizes its own award (BRIO), given by the Bronx Council on the Arts. Nahshon is based in New York City and uses surnames Ratcliff and Fuentes.
Early life
Nahshon was born in Los Angeles County[3] in the suburb of Altadena and raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Nahshon's family resided in Pasadena for several years. For a time, her family were neighbors to the family of Rodney King, victim of police brutality in Los Angeles in 1992. Nahshon attended John Marshall Junior High School with Actress Lark Vorhees and Tamala Jones as well as Actor Jaleel White.[4] As a member of Ms. Smiths drama club, Nahshon was invited to view live TV show tapings of various sitcoms at Sony Studios in Culver City, mainly Family Matters.
Career
In 1994 Nahshon began working at Chuck E. Cheese as Chuck E. and was cast in a TV commercial that was shot in Pasadena. From 1995-1996, Nahshon attended John Muir High School in Pasadena with Tashaunna Howard. Her godfather Tupac Shakur attended their Prom on June 7 with his personal bodyguard at the Biltmore Hotel In Los Angeles. Nahshon inquired about working in Hollywood, and Tupac directed her to contact Look Here Productions which was producing his music videos at the time.[5][4]
Upon taking rapper Tupac's advice in the summer of 1996, Nahshon started off as an intern at Look Hear Productions with Tracy D. Robinson and Gobi M. Rahimi. While attending California State University Los Angeles for two semesters after reading Black Talent News, Nahshon started working at The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show as a production assistant in 1997. After a few months on the new job Nahshon became Executive Producer Michael Davies personal assistant and began working at Buena Vista Television in the development department.[5][6]
Nahshon was the production coordinator for hip-hop artists, Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat, Naughty by Nature's music video Jamboree, Master P's film, Da Last Don, and the documentary 1 More Hit by Shauna Garr of Smart Girl Productions.[3][7] In 1999 Nahshon became employed by Director, Filmmaker and Writer Stanley Bennett Clay and joined the Screen Actors Guild, appearing in Diana Krall's music video Let's Face the Music, Arrest & Trial, a Nintendo commercial, with Sheryl Crow at the 26th Annual American Music Awards, and did print modeling for PacSun.[4][7]
Assault
On July 4, 1997, around midnight, Nahshon was assaulted by offender Ricky Laverne Marshall at Jim Thorpe Park in Hawthorne, California. Nahshon was beaten, handcuffed, and had a 380 shoved in her mouth and sustained one gunshot to the left arm. After several gunshots rang out, Ricky fled the scene.[5][4]
After escaping, Nahshon drove to an AM/PM gas station and was taken to Robert F. Kennedy hospital and was asked to identify a possible suspect. Ricky Marshall was apprehended by Hawthorne Police Officers Komathy and Irizibal, while hiding in Jim Thorpe park and sustained a gunshot wound in the leg during the altercation. Nahshon then received notice that her left arm might need an amputation. After being transported to Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center and receiving a second opinion, doctors concluded Nahshon's left arm was no longer at risk for amputation.
The attack left Nahshon with severe physical and psychological injuries: facial contusions, throat scarring from the gun being jammed into her tonsils, partial numbness and extreme sensitivity in her left arm and bullet fragments lodged in her left elbow.[6]
In the spring of 1998, Nahshon testified against Marshall at Los Angeles Superior Court Torrance Courthouse. The case was presided over by Judge William Hollingsworth and Marshall was found not guilty on all charges. However, Marshall had other felony charges pending and was found guilty and sentenced for the sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 and an adult woman in October 1998. Marshall prisoner 16111 is currently serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in California and is eligible for parole in 2036.[8]
Arrest
On January 1, 2000, at age 21 Nahshon was dressed in a white chiffon prom dress trimmed with roses and rushed the float ferrying Rose Queen Sophia Bush and her court. Police quickly swarmed, and placed Nahshon under arrest on suspicion of trespassing and disturbing the peace. While led away, Nahshon protested: "I am a queen. I was meant to be on that float."[9]
Writing
In 2007, Nahshon's former co-worker on The Keenen Ivory Wayan's late night talk show Terrance Dean reached out to Nahshon to rehash old memories and get the most recent scoop on hip-hop and Hollywood. In the summer of 2008, Terrance Dean published his first memoir Hiding in Hip-Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry—from Music to Hollywood. There were several written chapters about Nahshon's personal and professional life without her consent or knowledge. Nahshon always knew they had a story worth telling and shortly after relocating to New York City, started taking writing workshop classes at Project Red Umbrella led by Audacia Ray, Actors Fund of America and the Bronx Writers Center and wrote short story Shooting Range. Nahshon contributed to the book Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 in 2014.[10] Nahshon is a 2015 VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation Fellow and studied under writer Andrew X. Pham, as well as a 2016 Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow for non-fiction, and the inaugural reciepent of the Bryn Kelly Scholarship. [1][10]
Published works
Non-fiction books
Selected Anthologies
Awards/Grants/Honors
See also
References
Sources
External links |
